Essential Gaming: Calculating the cost of Holiday 2012

Last year, it was well-documented how crazy the holiday release schedule was, but this year, there isn’t quite as much commotion. Despite the less-than-overwhelming hype for this year’s holiday release schedule, gaming on a budget is going to be as difficult as it has ever been. Sure, November might not be as jam-packed with AAA titles as it was last year (with the obvious exception of the Wii U launch titles), but October is more than picking up any perceived notion of slack.

Gaming on a Budget

For the sake of this article, and for the sake of comparing this year to last year, we’re going to define “Holiday 2012″ as starting with the release of Borderlands 2 on September 18 and going through the release of Far Cry 3 on December 4. All of the dates here are for the North American releases, and not every title is included, as it would be impossible to keep up with them all. Also, be warned that some release dates may shift around.

Of course, the prices shown here are MSRP. However, there are several ways to avoid paying the prices shown. The best way is often to wait a week or two and watch the prices drop or used copies become available at outlets like Amazon. Buying used can prove difficult these days, however, as the online pass system has become more and more commonplace. Budgeting intelligently will lead to less stress during the holidays, and it will certainly allow you to enjoy more games than you normally would!

There’s no denying that this year’s holiday release schedule is full of excellent AAA titles and promising lesser-known games, and if you have a difficult time resisting, try and look at what time you actually have available. Do you really need to buy Borderlands 2, XCOM: Enemy Unknownand Dishonored all in one trip? What are the odds that, five months down the road, at least one of those games still in their shrink wrap has been included in a sale that would have made it less than what you paid for it? Trust me, it happens to me all the time (I still haven’t played Ghost Recon: Future Soldier after buying it on day one).

As we pointed out last year, this isn’t meant to overwhelm you, but rather give you an idea as to what we’re in for over the next couple of months. Gaming is an expensive hobby, and gaming on a budget can prove insanely difficult, but it isn’t impossible. Planning out your finances, choosing your games with heavy discrimination and waiting for the right time to finally pull the trigger can make a world of difference. If you must have it day one, however, stringing together pre-order bonuses like gift card promotions can’t hurt. Check out the list below and let us know how much you plan on spending this holiday season!

Brian Shea is VGW's Editor-in-Chief and one of the founding members of the site. In addition to leading the team at VideoGameWriters.com, he contributes such regular features as “Shea’s Say,” "Eleven Things," "Commercials from the Past" and “Essential Gaming."Follow Brian on Twitter